


and trees, poor stars

by twobirdsonesong



Category: CrissColfer - Fandom, Glee RPF
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Drabble, Established Relationship, M/M, RPF, Road Trips, Romance, crisscolfer, middle of the night, sort of not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-11 20:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1177466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twobirdsonesong/pseuds/twobirdsonesong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darren shows up at Chris’ house in the middle of the night to see the universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and trees, poor stars

**Author's Note:**

> "Listen: there’s a hell of a good universe next door; let’s go."  
> \- e. e. cummings

Chris wakes up in the dead of the night because his cell phone won’t stop ringing.  He drags himself to consciousness just enough to grab his phone from the nightstand.  Chris frowns at the screen where Darren’s picture is flashing as the phone buzzes and buzzes and buzzes some more.

 

“Wassit?” He mumbles in answer.

 

“Get up.”  Darren’s voice is bright and urgent and wide-awake.

  
“Darren what?”

 

“I’m outside.  Come on.”

 

Chris frowns even deeper.  “You have a key.  It’s 2am.  Just.  Come in.”  He’s about to hang up and go back to sleep when Darren just keeps talking.

 

“Nope.  Get dressed.  Get down here.”

 

“I’m going to hang up.”  Chris is warm and cozy and has no intention of getting up.

 

“Then I’ll use my key and drag your ass out of bed and into pants and into the car.  You don’t want that.  You’ve got five minutes before I’m coming in.”  And then the line goes dead.

  
Chris stares at the dark screen and seriously considers turning the phone off and burying his head back until the covers.  But he knows Darren.  And he knows Darren’s not fucking around.  Not when his voice gets like that.  Chris sighs deeply and throws the covers back.  There’s no point.

 

Darren’s old blue beamer is idling in the driveway when Chris steps out of his house, headlights bright in the darkness.

 

Chris slides into the passenger seat with a put-upon sigh, but Darren just smiles at him.  He’s wearing old jeans and a worn hoodie and he looks like he either just rolled out of bed or hasn’t been able to sleep in two nights.

 

“What’s going on?”  Chris asks.

 

Darren shifts the car into gear and pulls out of the driveway.  The gates open for him and Chris watches the dark bars close behind them in the side mirror.  “Want to see the universe,” Darren says, and it’s not the weirdest thing Chris has ever heard from him.

 

“Are you high?” He asks.

 

Darren shakes his head, grinning.  “I wouldn’t drive high.  You know that.”

 

“Then what’s going on?”

 

“Wanted to see you,” Darren responds as he navigates the narrow, twisting lanes of Chris’ neighborhood with familiarity.

 

“You could have seen me in my house,” Chris says.  “Or tomorrow on set.”

 

Darren’s hands are loose on the steering wheel, easy, and he’s silent until they merge onto the freeway, heading north.

 

“Wanted to see you now.”  Darren flashes a quick smile at him.  “And I wanted to see the universe.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“With you.”

 

 _Oh_.  Chris turns his head and gazes out of the window.  The freeway is almost empty, eerily devoid of brake lights and Chris has no idea where they’re going.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Darren looks over at him again and his smile is achingly soft in the darkness.  Chris settles into the passenger seat, leaning back against the headrest.  The radio is turned down low and Darren isn’t humming along.  Chris tries not to fall asleep to the gentle rumble of the engine and the faint scent of Darren’s cologne in the close space.

 

Chris isn’t sure how long they drive.  He sees it when they merge onto the Templin Highway, but he doesn’t know what that means.  Darren must have a destination in mind.  Chris is drifting – half awake, half floating on a lost daydream – when he feels the car slowing and pulling over.  Chris sits up straight, blinking and frowning at the sound of the tires on gravel instead of pavement.

 

“What are we-”

 

“Just trust me.”  Darren comes to a stop and turns off the car.  He levels a long look at Chris – eyes a muted gold in the dark of the car – until Chris nods.  They get out.

 

Gravel crunches under Chris’ shoes and he realizes they’re in a wide pull-off, completely alone on the side of the dark, empty highway.

 

“Where are we?”

 

“Somewhere,” Darren responds, purposefully cryptic Chris is sure, but he finds he doesn’t care.  Not when Darren comes around the side of the car, takes his hand, and pulls him along.  “Come on,” Darren urges him to sit up on the hood of his car with him.

 

“Is this safe?”  Chris asks, sitting down and feeling the car settle under their weight.

 

“Is anything?”

  
Chris rolls his eyes, but can’t disagree.  He watches as Darren lies back on the hood of his car, stretching out with his hands tucked under his head.

 

“Come on,” Darren repeats and Chris reclines back next to him.

 

The hood is warm through his clothes, warding off the nighttime coolness.  But above him, above him are the stars.

 

Chris’ mouth opens in surprise at what he sees – the black sky is alive with stars, more stars than he’s seen in longer than he remember.  They twinkle and glow, bright and beautiful, and Chris inhales deeply of the cool, dry air.

 

“Oh,” he breathes out.  He feels Darren shift and a leg presses against his.

 

“I told you I wanted to see the universe.”

 

Darren slides his hand down and tangles their fingers together.  Chris doesn’t close his eyes for a long time.


End file.
